Other Judicial Opinions OF THIS FINAL ORDER PURSUANT TO SECTION 120.68, FLORIDA STATUTES, AND FLORIDA RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 9.030(b)(1)(C) AND 9.110. TO INITIATE AN APPEAL OF THIS ORDER, A NOTICE OF APPEAL MUST BE FILED WITH THE DEPARTMENT'S AGENCY CLERK, 407 EAST MADISON STREET MSC 110, TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32399-4128, WITHIN 30 DAYS OF THE DAY THIS ORDER IS FILED WITH THE AGENCY CLERK. THE NOTICE OF APPEAL MUST BE SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE FORM PRESCRIBED BY FLORIDA RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 9.900(a). A COPY OF THE NOTICE OF APPEAL MUST BE FILED WITH THE APPROPRIATE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL AND MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY THE FILING FEE SPECIFIED IN SECTION 35.22(3), FLORIDA STATUTES, YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO JUDICIAL REVIEW IF THE NOTICE OF APPEAL IS NOT TIMELY FILED WITH THE AGENCY CLERK AND THE APPROPRIATE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL. Final Order No. DEO-11-0016 MEDIATION UNDER SECTION 120.573, FLA. STAT., IS NOT AVAILABLE WITH RESPECT TO THE ISSUES RESOLVED BY THIS ORDER. CERTIFICATE OF FILING AND SERVICE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the original of the foregoing has been filed with the undersigned Agency Clerk of the Department of Economic Opportunity, and that true and-correct copies have been furnished to the persons listed below in the manner described, on this ay of November 2011. Miriam Snipes, Agency Clerk DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY 407 East Madison Street MSC 110 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-4128 By U.S. Mail: Marcie Oppenheimer Nolan, Esq. Derek V. Howard, Esq. Becker & Poliakoff Assistant County Attorney Fort Lauderdale, FL. 32312 Monroe County’s Attorney’s Office 1111 12" Street, Suite 408 Key West, FL 33041 By Filing with DOAH: The Honorable Bram D. E. Canter Administrative Law Judge Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, FL 32399-1550
The Issue Whether Respondent, Garrison Irrigation, Inc., failed to pay amounts owing to Petitioner resulting from a verbal contract for four pallets of Bahia sod as set forth in the complaint dated July 20, 2004, and, if so, what amount Petitioner is entitled to recover.
Findings Of Fact Based upon observation of the witness and her demeanor while testifying, the documents received into evidence, and the entire record of this proceeding, the following relevant and material findings of fact are determined: At all times material to this proceeding, Petitioner, C.M. Payne and Son, Inc., was a producer of agricultural products as that term is defined in Subsection 604.15(5), Florida Statutes (2004). At all times material to this proceeding, Respondent, Garrison Irrigation, Inc. (Garrison), was licensed as a dealer in agriculture products as that term is defined in Subsection 604.15(1), Florida Statutes (2004). Respondent was licensed under number 13653, supported by Bond No. 929237754 in the amount of $10,000; written by Respondent, Continental Casualty Company, as Surety (Continental); Inception Date: December 4, 2003; Expiration Date: December 3, 2004; and Execution Date: December 4, 2003. At all times material, Continental is the surety which issued Garrison a surety bond. On January 23, 2004, Petitioner sold 16 pallets of Bahia sod to Garrison and, on Invoice 20027, billed Garrison a total of $599.20 for the 16 pallets of sod. On January 26, 2004, Petitioner sold 32 pallets of Bahia sod to Garrison and, on Invoice 20033, billed Garrison a total of $1,198.40 for the 32 pallets of sod. On January 27, 2004, Petitioner sold 16 pallets of Bahia sod to Garrison and, on Invoice 20039, billed Garrison a total of $599.20 for the 16 pallets of sod. On February 2, 2004, Petitioner sold 16 pallets of Bahia sod to Garrison and, on Invoice 20044, billed Garrison a total of $599.20 for the 16 pallets of sod. The terms of the sale between Petitioner and Garrison were for net payment for products sold within 30 days after the invoice date. Garrison did not appear at the hearing to contest or otherwise refute the charges alleged in Petitioner's complaint. Garrison is indebted to Petitioner in the amount of $2,996.00 for Bahia sod purchases from Petitioner on January 23, 26, and 27, 2004, and February 2, 2004. Garrison has failed to pay Petitioner for the sod purchases.
Recommendation Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that the Department issue its final order requiring that Respondent, Garrison Irrigation, Inc., pay to Petitioner, C. M. Payne and Son, Inc., the amount of $2,996.00 for the purchases of Bahia sod from Petitioner on January 23, 26, and 27, 2004, and February 2, 2004. It is further RECOMMENDED that if Respondent, Garrison Irrigation, Inc., fails to comply with the order directing payment, the Department shall call upon the surety, Continental Casualty Company, to pay over to the Department from funds out of the surety certificate, the amount needed to satisfy the indebtedness. DONE AND ENTERED this 22nd day of December, 2004, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. S FRED L. BUCKINE Administrative Law Judge Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060 (850) 488-9675 SUNCOM 278-9675 Fax Filing (850) 921-6847 www.doah.state.fl.us Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 22nd day of December, 2004.
The Issue The issues for determination are whether petitioner, Department of Community Affairs, has standing to maintain this action, and whether the respondent's, Withlacoochee Regional Planning Council's, proposed amendments to Rule 29E-11.001, Florida Administrative Code, constitute an invalid exercise of delegated legislative authority.
Findings Of Fact The parties Petitioner, Department of Community Affairs (Department), is the state land planning agency under the provisions of Chapter 163, Part II, Florida Statutes, [the "Local Government Comprehensive Planning and Land Development Regulation Act" (LGCPA)]. As the state land planning agency for the LGCPA, the Department is charged by law with the duty to provide technical assistance to local governments in preparing comprehensive plans and with the duty to ascertain whether local comprehensive plans are in compliance with the provisions of Chapter 163, Part II, Florida Statutes. Inherent in the Department's determination of compliance is a finding that the local government comprehensive plan elements are consistent with the state comprehensive plan and the appropriate regional policy plan. Where, as here, a comprehensive regional policy plan is inconsistent with the state comprehensive plan, the performance of the Department's mandated duty is stymied absent the ability to challenge the offensive parts of the regional policy plan, and thereby bring the planning process into harmony. Accordingly, as the state land planning agency charged with the responsibility of implementing the LGCPA, the Department has a real and immediate interest in assuring consistency between the state comprehensive plan and the various regional policy plans. Respondent, Withlacoochee Regional Planning Council (Council), is a regional planning council established pursuant to Section 186.504, Florida Statutes, and consists of the Counties of Citrus, Hernando, Levy, Marion, and Sumter. Rule 29E-1.001, Florida Administrative Code. As a regional planning council, the Council is charged by law with the duty to develop a comprehensive regional policy plan that is consistent with, and which furthers, the goals and policies of the state comprehensive plan. Section 186.507(1), Florida Statutes. The existent comprehensive regional policy plan and the proposed amendments The Council has, consistent with the requirement of Section 186.507(1), Florida Statutes, adopted its comprehensive regional policy plan by rule. That rule, codified as Rule 29E- 11.001, Florida Administrative Code, adopts and incorporates by reference the Council's comprehensive regional policy plan, with an effective date of April 13, 1989. On June 9, 1989, the Council duly noticed its intent to amend Rule 29E- 11.001, Florida Administrative Code, and published notice thereof in volume 15, number 23, of the Florida Administrative Weekly. Pertinent to this case, the proposed amendments would alter the policies of the Council's comprehensive plan as they relate to resource extraction (mining) in environmentally sensitive areas. On June 30, 1989, the Department filed a timely petition with the Division of Administrative Hearings, pursuant to Section 120.54(4), Florida Statutes, contending that the proposed amendments to Rule 29E-11.001, Florida Administrative Code, were an invalid exercise of delegated legislative authority. The gravamen of the Department's challenge to the validity of the proposed rule amendments is its contention that the amendments are not consistent with the state comprehensive plan policies as they relate to mining in environmentally sensitive areas, and that the amendments fail to establish adequate standards for the Commission's decisions or vest unbridled discretion in the Commission. The policies of the state comprehensive plan pertinent to this case, as set forth in Section 187.201, Florida Statutes, are as follows: (10) NATURAL SYSTEMS AND RECREATIONAL LANDS * * * (b) Policies - 1. Conserve forests, wetlands, fish, marine life, and wildlife to maintain their environmental, economic, aesthetic, and recreational values. * * * 3. Prohibit the destruction of endangered species and protect their habitats. * * * 7. Protect and restore the ecological functions of wetlands systems to ensure their long-term environmental, economic, and recreational value. * * * (14) Mining - (b) Policies - * * * 5. Prohibit resource extraction which will result in an adverse effect on environmentally sensitive areas of the state which cannot be restored. (Emphasis added) The Council's proposed amendments to Rule 29E-11.001, Florida Administrative Code (the comprehensive regional policy plan), are hereinafter set forth, with the proposed amendments in clear text and the existing language of the rule that is to be amended lined through. In such format, the proposed amendments to the existing rule that are under challenge in this proceeding provide as follows: 14.3.1.1. Regional Policy: Resource extraction which will result in an adverse effect on environmentally sensitive areas that cannot be reclaimed or restored to beneficial use shall be prohibited. Examples of such environmentally sensitive areas are: wetlands, rivers, streams, lakes, springs, coastal floodplains, endangered species habitat, prime agricultural lands, prime groundwater recharge areas, and historically significant sites. (Emphasis added) Wetlands, rivers, streams, lakes, springs, coastal, floodplains, endangered species' habitat, prime agricultural lands, prime groundwater recharge areas, and historically significant sites shall be identified and protected by a prohibition on mining activities within those areas and the establishment of buffer zones around them. Additionally, the Council proposes to amend its implementation strategy as to Regional Policies 14.3.1.1, 14.3.1.2, and 14.3.1.3, as follows: GROWTH MANAGEMENT Local governments with assistance from other agencies should inventory their wetlands, rivers, streams, lakes, springs, coastal floodplains, endangered species' habitat, prime agricultural lands, prime groundwater recharge areas, historically significant sites, and important mineral reserves. Local governments should adopt comprehensive plan amendments and ordinances that 1) prohibit mining activities in environmentally sensitive areas if they cannot be reclaimed or restored to beneficial use; define buffer zones around the areas and resources identified above and restrict mining activities to land outside those buffers, 2) require identification and protection of archaeological properties on sites proposed for mining; 3) restrict the use of land that contains economically recoverable mineral deposits and lies outside environmentally sensitive areas to activities that will not preclude later extraction of those minerals. (Emphases added) INTERGOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION (1) DNR, GFC, FWS, SCS, DER and WMDs, within their respective areas of expertise, should help local governments to identify and map the above areas and resources and to define appropriate buffer widths. Contrary to the provisions of the state comprehensive plan which prohibit resource extraction that will adversely effect environmentally sensitive areas unless they can be "restored," the proposed amendments would only prohibit such activities if the environmentally sensitive areas could not be "reclaimed or restored to beneficial use." The terms "restored" and "reclaimed," although not defined by the proposed amendments, have commonly accepted meanings. To restore a site means to put back the same thing that had previously existed, i.e.: restore the type, nature, and function of the ecosystem to the condition in existence prior to mining. To reclaim a site is to alter its character such that beneficial use can be made of it, even though the character or function of the site may be entirely different from that which previously existed. To "restore to beneficial use" is a phrase consistent with the definition of "reclamation," and not consistent with the definition of "restoration" as that term is commonly defined. Accordingly, it is found that the proposed amendments to Rule 29E-11.011, Florida Administrative Code, are patently inconsistent with the policies of the state comprehensive plan that relate to the protection of environmentally sensitive areas and, more particularly, the policy of the state comprehensive plan that prohibits resource extraction in such areas unless they can be restored. Notwithstanding the patent inconsistency between the proposed amendments and the state comprehensive plan, the Council argued that it "intends" to interpret the proposed amendment consistent with the state plan. To this end, the Council offered the testimony of its chairman, Nick Bryant, who testified that he would interpret the proposed amendment to require that the post-mining beneficial use be the same beneficial use that existed prior to mining. The Council's vice chairman, Ralph Shepard, testified, however, that he would not interpret the proposed amendment to require that the property be returned to the same character it enjoyed prior to mining, but only that it be reclaimed to the extent necessary to provide a beneficial use. Under such interpretation, the proposed amendment would allow, for example, the total destruction of a wetland by mining even if the net result would be a borrow pit in which people could swim and water ski. The Council's contention that it would interpret the proposed amendment consistent with the state plan is not only irrelevant in view of the patent inconsistency which exists between the proposed amendments and the state plan, but is also not credible. Rather, the clear impact of the rule and the Council's "intent" may be readily gleamed from its notice of proposed rulemaking, federal comparison statement, and economic impact statement. As stated in the Council's notice of proposed rule making: PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The rule is being amended for the purpose of replacing the Comprehensive Regional Policy Plan (CRPP) previously adopted by reference, with a new version in which a policy in the mining chapter and its associated implementation strategies have been changed. The effect of the amendment will be to remove a prohibition on mining in areas that are environmentally sensitive or historically significant. * * * SUMMARY OF THE ESTIMATE OF ECONOMIC IMPACT: Opportunities for economic benefit from resource extraction will be afforded land owners and the mining industry in environmentally sensitive areas... Costs will be borne by the general public as a result of lost environmental functions and values.... (Emphasis added) As stated in the Council's federal comparison statement: The revised policy is less restrictive than the current federal wetlands policy of avoiding impacts where there are alternatives, and requiring that unavoidable impacts be fully offset in order to achieve a goal of no net loss as defined by acreage and function. And, as stated in the council's economic impact statement: A potential for economic benefit from resource extract ions will be created in environmentally sensitive areas where the CRPP restricts other development activities. Costs will occur in the form of lower water quality and the loss of wildlife habitat and other functions presently provided by the sites where mining will be allowed. * * * Expectation of benefits and costs to affected parties is based on the assumption that at least some local governments in the region will choose not to be more stringent than the CRPP, and will therefore permit mining where consistency with the Regional Plan would previously have required its prohibition. While not conceding that any inconsistency exists between the proposed amendments and the state comprehensive plan, the Council suggests that, if any inconsistency exists, other existing policies within its plan obviate any inconsistency. In support of its argument, the Council points primarily to policies 14.1.1.1, 14.1.1.3, and 14.3.1.6. An examination of such policies, as well as the Council's entire comprehensive plan, demonstrates, however, that no other policy or policies cure the inconsistency that exists between the proposed amendments and the state comprehensive plan.
Conclusions This. cause is before the Department of Community Affairs on an Order Closing File, a copy of which is appended hereto as Exhibit A. On June 22, 2009, the Department published its cumulative Notice of Intent to find the Hernando County comprehensive plan amendment adopted by Ordinance No. 2007-24 on December 12, 2007, and the remedial amendments adopted by Ordinance 2009-03 on May 12, 2009, in compliance with the Local Government Comprehensive Planning and Land Development Regulation Act, Ch. 163, Part II, Florida Statutes (the “Act”). On July 15, 2009, pursuant to Section 163.3184(9), Florida Statutes, the Department forwarded Brooksville Quarry LLC’s Petition for Administrative Hearing to the Division of Administrative Hearings. The case was assigned DOAH case number FINAL ORDER No. DCA09-GM-289 09-3746GM. On August 3, 2009, a Notice of Hearing was entered for September 1 and 2, 2009. On August 10, 2009, Brooksville Quarry, LLC, filed a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal without Prejudice. There are no other Petitioners in this case, and the time has expired for filing petitions for hearing. Therefore, no disputed issues remain to be resolved. The Florida Supreme Court held that “[a] case is ‘moot’ when it presents no actual controversy or when the issues have ceased to exist.” Godwin v. State, 593 So. 2d 211, 212 (Fla. 1991). A moot case generally will be dismissed. Id.
Other Judicial Opinions REVIEW OF THIS FINAL ORDER PURSUANT TO SECTION 120.68, FLORIDA STATUTES, AND FLORIDA RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 9.030 (b) (1)®) AND 9.110. TO INITIATE AN APPEAL OF THIS ORDER, A NOTICE OF APPEAL MUST BE FILED WITH THE DEPARTMENT’S AGENCY CLERK, 2555 SHUMARD. OAK BOULEVARD, TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32399-2100, WITHIN 30 DAYS OF THE DAY THIS ORDER IS FILED WITH THE AGENCY CLERK. THE NOTICE OF APPEAL MUST BE SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE FORM PRESCRIBED BY FLORIDA RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 9.900(a). A COPY OF THE NOTICE OF APPEAL MUST BE FILED WITH THE APPROPRIATE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL AND MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY THE FILING FEE SPECIFIED IN SECTION 35.22(3), FLORIDA STATUTES. YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO JUDICIAL REVIEW IF THE NOTICE OF APPEAL IS NOT TIMELY FILED WITH THE AGENCY CLERK AND THE APPROPRIATE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL. MEDIATION UNDER SECTION 120.573, FLA. STAT., IS NOT AVAILABLE WITH RESPECT TO THE ISSUES RESOLVED BY THIS ORDER. FINAL ORDER No. DCA09-GM-289 CERTIFICATE OF FILING AND SERVICE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the original of the foregoing has been filed with the undersigned Agency Clerk of the Department of Community Affairs, and that true and correct copies have been furnished by U.S. Mail to, each of the persons listed below on this day of , 2009. Agency Clerk By U.S. Mail The Honorable Bram D. E. Canter Administrative Law Judge Division of Administrative Hearings The Desoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060 Linda Loomis Shelley, Esquire Karen Brodeen, Esquire Jacob D. Varn, Esquire Fowler White Boggs PA PO Box 11240 Tallahassee, FL 32302 Geoffrey Kirk, Esquire Assistant County Attorney Hernando County 20 North Main Street, Suite 462 Brooksville, Florida 34601-2850 By Hand Delivery Lynette Norr Assistant General. Counsel Department of Community Affairs 2555 Shumard Oak Boulevard Tallahassee, FL 32399-2100
The Issue The question in this case is whether GDC should be authorized to go forward with development of some 2,000 acres, a portion of the Myakka Estates project it has planned for North Port in south Sarasota County, and, if so, on what terms. In the prehearing order dated February 8, 1980, the legal issue was stated broadly as "whether the proposed development [Phase I] comports with the standards of Chapter 380, Florida Statues (1979), as set forth in Section 380.06(8) and (11), Florida Statutes (1979) [now 380.06(11) and (13), Florida Statues (Supp. 1980)]." An important question is what legal effect the Master Development Order should be given in the present case. In the same prehearing order, factual issues were stated to include whether the "location . . . [and] approval of the proposed land sales development is consistent with the report and recommendation of the SWFRPC in light of the State, County, and North Port comprehensive plans"; whether "the proposed development will, individually and in combination with approved development, overburden the public school system . . . . overburden the public roads . . . [or] create a negative economic impact upon county and municipal governments"; and whether "GDC has provided for sufficient potable water."
Findings Of Fact GDC proposes to develop 8,135 acres in North Port in Sarasota County, just north of the Charlotte County line, as a new community, to be called Myakka Estates. Phase I, the group of three units slated for development next after the "vested portion" of the project, is designed to occupy a 2,016.56-acre tract within the larger parcel, west of and well upland from the Myakka River, and approximately four miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico. PRESENT CONDITION OF LAND The highest elevation on Phase I is 13 feet above mean sea level. About three quarters of Phase I is covered with slash pine, southern pine, and saw palmetto. Pasture lands, about seven percent of the Phase I tract, are covered with grasses, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and only occasional trees. Freshwater marsh ponds and other marshy areas are distributed more or less evenly over the property in a karstic gestalt, except that an uninterrupted stretch of marsh along the western boundary marks the eastern edge of the northern reaches of Ainger Creek, which further downstream flows across the southwest tip of the property. in the wet areas, limnophilous vegetation, including sportios bakeri, cyperus spp., cladium mariscoides, rhychospora ap., hypericum aspalathoides, xyris iridefolia, eriocaulon decangulare, eleocharis equistoides, pontederia cordota, bacopa caroliniana, and hydrocotyle umbellata, predominates. Opossums, eastern moles, raccoons, otters, and bobcats have been spotted on the Phase I property. Among other mammals whose range includes the Phase I property are shrews, bats, black bear, longtail weasel, mink, Florida panther (Burt and Grossenheider) skunks, gray fox, mountain lion, squirrels, southeastern pocket gophers, rats, mice, rabbits, whitetail deer, and armadillo. People have seen eastern rattlesnakes, pygmy rattlesnakes, water moccasins, eastern garter snakes, yellow rat snakes, anolis carolinensis (a lizard), snapping turtles, common musk turtles, box turtles, gopher tortoises, spiny softshell turtles, bull frogs, leopard frogs, cricket frogs, green tree frogs, and American toads on the Phase I property. There is reason to believe that numerous other snakes, frogs and lizards inhabit the property. On high ground in the Phase I property, people have seen turkey vultures, black vultures, red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks, kestrels, bobwhites, turkeys, mourning doves, ground doves, flickers, red-billed woodpeckers, eastern kingbirds, blue jays, Carolina wrens, mockingbirds, catbirds, robins, loggerhead shrikes, meadowlarks, red-wings, boat-tailed grackles, cardinals, Florida sandhill cranes, and bank swallows. On westland portions of Phase I, people have seen pied-billed grebes, anhingas, great blue herons, American egrets, ivory egrets, Louisiana herons, little blue herons, green herons, least bitterns, wood storks, white ibis, red-winged blackbirds, purple grackles, killdeer, southern bald eagles, and limpkins. Limpkins, wood storkes, southern bald eagles, and Florida sandhill cranes are endangered species. Various fishes live in waters on the Phase I property, including lake chumbuckers, golden shiners, yellow bullheads, flagfish, golden topminnows, four different killifishes, mosquito fish, sailfin mollies, warmouths, bluegills, and three kinds of sunfish. The common prawn the Florida crayfish, and the neritina reclivata also inhabit one or more water bodies on the Phase I tract. Insect populations are relatively low because of the abundance of piscine insectivores. Before GDC acquired the property, men dug ditches which connect several ponds and cause stormwater to drain through them into Ainger Creek which empties into Lemon Bay. Drainage into the ponds and connecting ditches is by sheet flow. Cow dung in the pastures is concentrated around certain ponds, where cattle drink; and may account for some of the nonhuman fecal coliform bacteria that are to be found in Lemon Bay. Part of the Phase I property drains by sheet flow into the Myakka River. The topsoil is sandy on the Phase I tract. In the vicinity of Ainger Creek, Pompano find sand and Keri find sand predominate. These sands, Delray fine sand and Plummer fine sand, are found in most of the low-lying areas on the property. Leon fine sand covers most of the high ground. There is a strip of Immokalee fine sand along the northern border of the Phase I tract other than as pasture or for tree farming would be energy intensive. One expert proposed hydroponic cultivation. ANNEXATION GDC acquired the Myakka Estates property from a rancher in 1970 or 1971, then took steps to cause the parcel to be annexed by the City of North Port, within the municipal boundaries of which other substantial GDC development was already located. The annexation took place notwithstanding the absence of any bridge or road connecting the Myakka Estates parcel to the rest of North Port. These two parts of the City of North Port touch at a corner but are not otherwise contiguous. Some 100,000 lots have been platted in North Port east of the Myakka river; over 90,000 were still vacant at the time of the hearing. At 68 square miles, North Port, with a population of five to eight thousand, is second in land area only to the consolidated City of Jacksonville, the municipality with the largest land area in the state. LAND USE RESTRICTIONS By ordinance of the City of North Port, the entire Myakka Estate parcel is zoned agricultural and has been at all pertinent times. On September 9, 1974, however, North Port entered the Master Development Order authorizing development of all "non-vested" portions of Myakka Estates. In consideration of the Division of State Planning's forbearance from taking an appeal of the Master Development Order to the Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission, GDC agreed to submit "supplemental Applications for Development Approval as a condition to development of specific increments of the master residential plan," GDC Exhibit No. 12, a requirement also imposed by the Master Order itself. North Port has a subdivision ordinance with which, according to the uncontroverted evidence, the proposed Phase I development is in compliance. In June of 1979, North Port adopted a Comprehensive Development and Growth Management Plan, GDC Exhibit Nos. 23 and 91, in accordance with Section 163.3184, Florida Statutes (1979). Because of the pendency of the present proceedings, the SWFRPC and the DCA objected to inclusion of Phase I in the North Port plan. As a result of the objections, the plan makes little reference to Phase I although it notes that planning for Phase I "was conducted in conformance with present standards and was recently approved by the [North Port] Planning Commission and City Commission [apparently by adoption of the Development Order challenged in these proceedings]." GDC Exhibit No. 91, at 28. Stated as an objective of North Port's Comprehensive Development and Growth Management Plan, at p. 22, is To encourage growth that is relatively contiguous to the existing developed area and encompasses within the 25-year period the area bounded on the north by McCarthy Boulevard and Snover Waterway, on the east by Blue Ridge Waterway, and on the south and west by the city limits. GDC Exhibit No. 91. Other stated objectives are to "encourage consistency with and between Florida's Growth Management and Land Development Elements" and Sarasota County's Land Use Plan. It was uncontroverted that plans by General Development Utilities to furnish water and sewer service to Phase I are in conformity with provisions of the North Port plan on those subjects. Sarasota County has never adopted a comprehensive plan in accordance with Section 163.3184, Florida Statutes (1979), but the county does have the Land Use Plan, GDC Exhibit No. 93, referred to in the North Port plan. The Sarasota County Land Use Plan map designates the unincorporated area adjacent to Myakka Estates as appropriate for agriculture. The county has zoned the area along South River Road (formerly State Road 777), immediately adjacent to Myakka Estates, "QUE-1", Open Use, Estate, one dwelling unit per five acres, and the area further west "OUR", Open Use, Rural, one dwelling unit per ten acres. According to a map that is part of the Sarasota County Land Use Plan, Myakka Estates falls in the "low density residential" category, 1.1 to 4.5 units per acre. By its terms, however, this plan applies only to unincorporated areas of Sarasota County. The portion of the Phase I property lying in the easterly half of Section 33, Township 40 South, Range 20 East is within the jurisdiction of the Englewood Water District, which was created by Chapter 59-931, Laws of Florida. At the time of the final hearing, the whole area of EWD was on septic tanks and EWD's water lines did not reach Section 33. Some 166 lots are planned for the portion of Phase I over which EWD has jurisdiction. EWD has a policy of not permitting other water systems within the area served by the district. Its current regulations containing specifications for water and sewer mains and the like were adopted on June 19, 1980. The Florida State Comprehensive Plan, GDS Exhibit No. 92, is an internally inconsistent compilation of "goals", "objectives", and "policies". It was adopted by executive order and approved by the Florida Legislature in 1978. In their proposed recommended orders, the parties identified the following items as being in controversy: Ensure that the expansion of public facilities for economic development is in accordance with local government comprehensive plans and the State Comprehensive Plan. Consider the projected availability of energy when making economic development decisions. Physical, natural, economic, and human resources should be managed and developed in ways that avoid unnecessary long-term energy- intensive investments. Incorporate energy as a major consideration into the planning and decision-making processes of state, regional, and local governments. Encourage land use patterns that by design, size, and location minimize long-term energy commitments to construction, operation, maintenance, and replacement. Encourage a careful, ongoing evaluation of governmental expenditures and revenues in light of future uncertainties about energy supplies and related economic implications. To ensure the orderly long-range social, economic, and physical growth of the state. Identify the costs and benefits of growth to local and state governments and explore methods for allocating these costs to the citizens equitably. Housing should be produced in a mix of types, sizes, and prices that is based on local and regional need and that is consistent with the state's growth policy. Land use and development should proceed in an orderly manner that produces an economically efficient and personally satisfying residential environment with with minimal waste of our land resources. The provision of public facilities, utilities, open space, transportation, and other services that are required to support present and projected housing and community development needs should be ensured. Develop environmentally responsive land planning methods that reduce the stress that new develop- ments place on their communities' energy needs, water needs, sewage treatment facilities, transportation, flood control systems, and social, and educational services, and thus reduce the overall taxes and cost of the services needed to satisfy these demands. Consider energy implications in the review of applications for developments having regional impact (DRI). Land development should be managed in a manner consistent with the values and needs of the citizens of the state and with the concept of private property rights. Agricultural lands, especially those most seriously threatened, should be maintained and preserved for the production of food and fiber products. Influence the timing, distribution, type, density, scale, and design of development by coordinating land development proposals in state and local comprehensive plans and public investment programs in order to ensure the availability of adequate public facilities, services, and other resources. Allocate an equitable share of the cost of expanding public facilities to the newly served residents. Base land development decisions on quantita- tive knowledge of the short- and long-term capabilities of the hydrologic units to provide adequate supplies of water. Coordinate land use planning and water management to ensure the long-range maintenance and enhancement of water quantity and quality. Accommodate new development by using water from the local hydrologic basins rather than through surface water transfer between hydrologic basins. Protect groundwater supplies from saltwater intrusion by the regulation of withdrawals, maintenance of adequate recharge of groundwater, and prevention of saltwater movements inland through coastal canals. Maintain groundwater levels to insure that water levels are not drawn to such a degree that sustained yield is adversely affected or that natural resource degradation takes place. Protect groundwater supplies from saltwater intrusion by the maintenance of a sufficient amount of groundwater in coastal aquifers to prevent intrusion through regulation of withdrawals, maintenance of adequate recharge, and sufficient controls on coastal canals. Protect and maintain groundwater supplies and aquifer recharge areas through water- and land- management practices and, where necessary, through regulation of development activities. Allow alteration of groundwater movements within or between aquifers only where it can be shown that such alterations are not harmful to surface and groundwater resources. Develop minimum service standards for utility systems. Encourage the provision and maintenance of adequate utility systems in already developed areas. In areas where utility systems are over- burdened, manage growth while remedial measures are expedited to restore utility systems to a condition of adequacy. Encourage the effective use of utility systems, energy, land, and finite resources by evaluating and revising, if necessary, laws and regulations that may bar innovative development patterns, designs, and materials. Although authorized to do so by statute, Section 380.06(2)(a), Florida Statutes (Supp. 1980), the Administration Commission has not adopted guidelines and standards for developments of regional impact by administrative rule. PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT After development, water would cover 59.41 acres of Phase I and mostly low lying "open space/green belts" would account for another 504.69 acres. An additional 143.32 acres are planned for recreational uses. Roads and utility easements would account for 398.54 acres. GDC has agreed to construct a municipal services building in the vested portion of Myakka Estates, on a parcel across the street from Phase I. In Phase I, GDC plans to set aside 20.06 acres for an elementary school and 6.97 acres for neighborhood retail outlets. GDC has announced its intention to donate the school site to the Sarasota County School Board. Other school sites have been set aside within Myakka Estates. A large commercial area on a major arterial road is planned for the vested portion and a golf course and other recreational facilities, as well as an industrial site, are planned for later phases of development. Over a 33-year period, GDC plans to build 1,056 multifamily units on 92.61 acres and expects 2,859 single family detached houses to be built, by GDC and other contractors, on lots averaging approximately a quarter of an acre and aggregating 790.06 acres. The average envisioned for Phase I is 1.94 dwelling units per acre as compared to 2.33 dwelling units per acre for Myakka Estates as a whole. In the vested portion of Myakka estates and in the contiguous area to the south GDC is developing "multiple cores". Similarly, two distinct neighborhoods are contemplated in Phase I. GDC plans to build multifamily housing complexes in the neighborhood "cores" to be surrounded by single family detached houses, with vacant lots in between these neighborhood centers. GDC hopes to sell 1,927 unimproved lots in Phase I on an installment basis. Typically the purchaser would undertake to make installment payments over a ten-year period and GDC would agree to construct central water and sewer distribution systems and to pave access roads by the end of the period. A purchaser would be permitted to make prepayment but GDC would only be obligated to convey the lot at the end of the agreed term. GDC plans it so that installment payments will provide GDC enough money to install water and sewer systems and pave roads before GDC is obligated to convey the improved lots. All expenses of hocking up to the water or sewer system, including extending mains, where necessary, are to be borne by the purchaser. the purchaser must secure a building permit before GDC becomes obligated to furnish water. In the event GDC is unable to perform, however, the contract requires the purchaser to choose between accepting a refund of the purchase price and exchanging the lot for another lot. Under certain circumstances the lot owner is allowed a credit against purchase of a home from GDC in addition to the equity in the lot. In 1979, three quarters of the houses GDC sold were sold to lot owners who exercised their option to exchange the equity in houses in a core area, and 99 percent of the houses GDC sold in North Port were located in "core areas". At the time of the hearing, there were already hundreds of thousands of unimproved lots in Lee, Charlotte, and south Sarasota Counties and hundreds of miles of little used roads providing access to the lots. AIR POLLUTION The uncontroverted evidence was that air pollution anticipated as a result of the proposed development, chiefly from automobile exhaust, would not violate state or federal air quality standards. STORMWATER The planned stormwater drainage system has been designed to retain one inch of runoff before discharge from the Phase I property and to prevent flooding of the portions of the property slated for development during storms of up to 25 years return frequency and 24-hour duration. Stormwater in the Ainger Creek watershed will drain from roads and lawns into front- and sideyard swales, to broader, shallow, grassy collector swales, through a series of shallow ponds (with a maximum depth of six feet) equipped with control structures and into Ainger Creek in which GDC has already constructed a weir with a flap gate. Some stormwater will percolate through the sandy soils into the groundwater and, except under the most extreme conditions, groundwater will reach Ainger Creek only after most pollutants have been precipitated or filtered out biologically. Water in the Myakka River watershed will reach the river by sheet flow which, depending on conditions, will also be diminished by percolation and purified by precipitation and biological filtration. Under extremely wet conditions, water entering the Myakka River and Lemon Bay from Ainger Creek will contain pollutants normally associated with residential development, mostly high concentrations of nutrients and small concentrations of heavy metals. GDC's employee's testimony that water entering Lemon Bay will be of a higher quality after development than at present, although uncontroverted, is rejected as incredible, although it could conceivably hold true under mild meteorological conditions. Ainger Creek's flood plain extends east from the thalweg some distance into the Phase I property. See GDC Exhibit Nos. 69, 70, 71, and 72. On preliminary flood insurance rate maps, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has identified special flood hazard zones along the creek which include 169 acres in proposed Unit 5 in which a minimum elevation of ten feet has been recommended for any habitable space (A-9) and 263 acres in Sections 26, 33, and 34 in which a minimum elevation of 11 feet has been recommended for any habitable space (A-10). The lowest street elevation proposed for the A-10 zone is seven feet. GDC normally adds two to two-and-a- half feet of fill to existing grade before erecting houses, but can add more. The weir across Ainger Creek and the proposed control structures where water outfalls into swales allow the retention upstream of water which otherwise might have flowed into Lemon Bay. Water retained on the Phase I property and elsewhere upstream can percolate through the topsoil and replenish the groundwaters. The weir on Ainger Creek acts as a barrier against the movement of salt water upstream. For both of these reasons, the proposed drainage system should decrease any danger of saltwater intrusion into freshwater aquifers in the area. In the event substantial amounts of salt water (or some pollutant) are introduced into Ainger Creek upstream of the weir, the weir is designed to permit the Creek to be flushed. ECONOMIC IMPACT ON PRIVATE SECTOR Except in the core areas, where GDC plans to market improved real estate, contractors other than GDC would have an opportunity to bid on construction contracts for new houses, a decade or so after installment land sales proposed for Phase I begin. Even before construction of housing, roads would have to be paved, water and sewer pipes would have to be laid, and other utilities would have to be installed. Thousands of people living on the new unpopulated Phase I property would mean additional jobs in the private and public sectors. Since there are already more than 641,000 vacant subdivision lots in the Charlotte Harbor area, however, the region is presumably in little danger of losing out on additional population for want of land developments. FISCAL IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT Using census and other population data and reviewing GDC's sales records in other land developments, J. Thomas Campbell, a GDC employee, has projected a 47-year development or build-out schedule for Myakka Estates, forecasting, among other things, how rapidly housing units will be built in Phase I. Taking the build-out schedule as a given, Paul G. Van Buskirk, a GDC consultant, assumed an average household size increasing linearly through time and projected population growth in Phase I year by year for 33 years. Mr. Van Buskirk made assumptions about average household size, the proportion of population over age 65, and the proportion of population of school age, only after examining data of this kind from ten other communities housing mainly retired persons, which he thought would be comparable. He distributed school children among elementary, middle, and high schools on the hypothesis that the proportion would be the same as obtained in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. In 1975, Mr. Van Buskirk projected streams of revenue and expenditure for local governments attributable to Phase I, forecasting a surplus for North port, Sarasota County, and the Sarasota County School District (School District). He assumed the value of an average house to be $40,000 in 1975 dollars, that market value would be the same as assessed value, and that then current mileages would remain constant. He also projected, in 1975, a tax base in North Port of $119,000,000 in 1979, in 1979 dollars. In fact, North Port's 1979 tax base was $122,000,000. In 1975, he projected a surplus for North Port in 1979 of $905,000 in 1979 dollars ($662,000 in 1975 dollars). In 1979, the surplus was, in fact, slightly more than $700,000. The difference between the projected surplus and the actual surplus is attributable to North Port's decision to retain the same level of services it had in 1975 while lowering the ad valorem tax rate. In his 1975 calculations, Mr. Van Buskirk made no attempt to reduce later years' dollar figures to then present values. In response to criticism by Dr. Fishkind, Sarasota County's economist, Mr. Van Buskirk reduced revenues and expenditures he had projected to present values, by assuming a discount rate of 7.5 percent. This discount rate was chosen to represent the cost of money obtainable by selling tax exempt bonds. At the same time, he posited a ten percent return compounded annually on projected surpluses. After this revision, as before, he forecast a favorable fiscal impact on North Port, Sarasota County, and the School District. CITY OF NORTH PORT The weight of the evidence showed that the fiscal impact of development of Phase I on the City of North Port would probably be favorable. Mr. Van Buskirk's model predicted fiscal developments in North Port with impressive accuracy. The large surpluses projected for the early years of development could not be counted on, however, because they would add to the already existing surplus ($8,000,000 in June of 1980) and to political pressures to lower taxes in such circumstances. North Port's recent reduction in millage, in the face of a growing surplus, evidences a predictably recurring tendency. Even though Phase I is ten miles from the center of North Port, the municipal services building GDC has agreed to build should make this distance a relatively insignificant factor in delivering some municipal services, according to Dr. Fishkind. Volume X, pp. 113-114. SARASOTA COUNTY In projecting what expenditures Sarasota County would make, if Phase I is developed according to schedule, Dr. Fishkind subtracted water and sewer costs but no others from per capita base-year figures to arrive at a per capita figure of $137.02 in 1975 dollars, to which he added special costs projected by Sheriff Hardcastle for law enforcement and Mr. Longworth for roads. Because all three of these figures are significant overstatements, Dr. Fishkind overstated expenditures significantly when he calculated Phase I's negative fiscal impact on Sarasota County over the course of the development as $8,100,000 in 1979 dollars. Dr. Fishkind also failed to include surpluses that would be furnished to county government early on in the development. Mr. Van Buskirk's base year per capital figure is a closer approximation of per capita costs that would be fairly attributable to residents of Phase I, but road and law enforcement costs are probably understated. No increase in real sots is projected and the combined effect of using a 100 percent assessment ratio and ignoring costs of sales is to overstate tax revenues. When Mr. Van Buskirk assumed a 79 percent assessment ratio and an average house value of $35,000 in 1975 dollars, he still projected a $449,000 positive fiscal impact on Sarasota County from development of Phase I. That calculation also included the ten percent interest compounded annually imputed to surpluses, however, without any showing that surpluses from Phase I would be invested rather than expended for some other county purpose, making simple discounting appropriate. Although the evidence is far from clear, it suggests, on balance, that the fiscal impact of Phase I on Sarasota County would be negative. CHARLOTTE COUNTY Charlotte County's public roads, recreation facilities, and schools would be used by the residents of Phase I, if all goes as planned, and Charlotte County would not have the offsetting benefit of ad valorem taxes from Phase I, although it would receive certain offsetting benefits on account of additional students under the current intergovernmental agreements. Phase I's development would have a negative fiscal impact on Charlotte County and the Charlotte County School District. SCHOOL DISTRICT Phase I is some five miles from Englewood Elementary School, ten miles from Venice Gardens Elementary and five to seven miles from Lemon Bay Junior- Senior High School in Charlotte County which accepts students from Sarasota County under the terms of an intergovernmental agreement. These schools are presently operating at or above capacity. Under current conditions, a major development anywhere in Sarasota County would be a burden to the school system. A survey of the school district's capital requirements for the next five years suggests some $67,445,817 will be needed for new construction. Of this, Sarasota County expects to receive $15,797,414 from State sources. Phase I is not expected to house any school children in the next five years, however. In the tenth year of development, the projection is that 489 elementary students, 245 junior high students, and 244 senior high students would live in Phase I, necessitating the construction of at least the first "phase" of an elementary school. Exclusive of site acquisition costs, an elementary school costs about $4,000,000; a junior high school costs about $19,000,000; and a senior high school costs about $18,000,000. If development of Phase I occurs at or above the rate projected by GDC, the net fiscal impact on the School District would probably be negative, but if development lags significantly behind predictions, as Dr. Fishkind testified was likely, the additional years of tax revenues before Phase I places major demands on the school system could well result in a positive fiscal impact on the School District from development of Phase I. POTABLE WATER General Development Utilities (GDU), a subsidiary of GDC, has a franchise from North Port to furnish water within the city limits, including Myakka Estates, except in the portion of Section 33 where EWD has jurisdiction. GDU is a private, not a public, utility, but its use of ground and surface waters renders the water used unavailable to another utility. At an existing water treatment facility on Myakkahatchee Creek, in North Port, about ten miles from Phase I, GDU treats 4.2 million gallons of water a day (mgd), but could treat 8 mgd. GUD also operates a water treatment complex in Fort Ogden on the Peace River, six or seven miles downstream from Arcadia. At the time of the hearing, GDU had the ability to pump 1.5 mgd from the Peace River complex to North Port and Myakka Estates. The Peace River facility includes a raw-water intake structure, a reservoir, and a treatment plant. It has a capacity of 6 mgd although some of its components have larger capacities. The intake structure and 36-inch transmission lines can handle 30 mgd and the filter units have a capacity of 15 mgd. The reservoir covers some 90 acres and has a capacity of 800,000,000 gallons. In all, GDU has reserved 1,000 acres for use as a reservoir, although the need for such a large reservoir is not anticipated even by the year 2050. GUD does not plan to expand the existing reservoir for another ten years. Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) has permitted GDU to withdraw up to an average of 5 mgd from the Peach River not to exceed five percent of the day's flow. At Arcadia, the Peace River's daily flow varies seasonally from 32 mgd to ten billion gallons per day. Except for 36 days a year (on the average), 5 mgd is less than 5.7 percent of the low flow of the Peace River. GDU can fill its reservoir by diverting water from the Peace River at times of high flow, so as to get the best water quality, and cause the least proportional diminution of the river's flow. GDU plans to withdraw an average of 13 mgd from the Peace River when capacity of the facility at Fort Ogden reaches 30 mgd. This is approximately 1.5 percent of the Peace River's approximately 800 mgd average flow at Arcadia. Some of the diverted water will never reach Charlotte Harbor because of evaporation at various points. Other water transported to Myakka Estates from the Peace River, whether treated at Fort Ogden or at North Port, would be used for irrigation, and some of this water would drain into Lemon Bay by Ainger Creek and never reach Charlotte Harbor. Most of the water diverted into the Peace River reservoir will eventually make its way through homes in GDC developments into wastewater plants, from there into the groundwater, and ultimately into Charlotte Harbor. Even when water from the Peace River reaches Charlotte Harbor by this route, however, there will ordinarily have been an interbasin transfer. The quality of water in the Peace River is good. If it were necessary to augment river water at the Peace River plant, well water from aquifers in the vicinity would be available. Because this well water is brackish, however, it would be blended with the river water to produce a mixture low enough in chlorides to be potable. Surface water from Myakkahatchee Creek and Snover Waterway could also be transported to the Peace River reservoir, at a rate of 13.5 mgd. Myakkahatchee Creek discharges 20 billion gallons of water into Charlotte Harbor annually. Treating water at the Peace River facility requires about two kilowatts per 1,000 gallons of water. Brackish water is available from well fields in the vicinity of Myakka Estates property, but treating brackish water by reverse osmosis requires about 11 kilowatts per hour. Phase I would, of course, add to future demand for potable water. SEWERAGE By ordinance, North Port requires that new homes be equipped with 3.5- gallon flush toilets instead of the standard 5-gallon models. Since 40 percent of the water used in the average household goes through the toilet, this is an important water conservation measure. GDU plans to provide a sewer system for the whole of Myakka Estates including initially an activated sludge sewer plant with a rated capacity of 250,000 gallons a day to be located on a 40-acre parcel reserved for that purpose. Effluent from the plant would be discharged into a polishing pond then sprayed over soil planted with vegetation to take up nitrogen and phosphorus, through which it would percolate into the groundwater. Once the Myakka Estates plant reached capacity, sewerage would be transported to Gulf Cove in Port Charlotte, six miles from the Phase I property, where an existing plant with a capacity of 333,000 gallons a day now processes 100,000 gallons a day. At the Gulf Cove plant site, GDU has 163 acres available for plant expansion. SOLID WASTE Solid waste from Phase I would be taken to the existing North Port landfill some nine miles distant, as long as that could be used. A second layer of solid waste was being laid down there at the time of the hearing. Monitoring wells had been dug to detect leachates leaving the landfill. A 90-acre site for a new landfill to serve all of North Port has been chosen within the 100-year flood plan of the Myakka River. GDC has agreed to construct the new landfill and lease it to North Port for operation by the city. The use of solid waste for energy production is not feasible, unless quantities on the order of 200 tons a day are available. Part or all of Charlotte County produces about 100 tons a day of solid waste. Per capita, people produce about 5.5 pounds per day of solid waste. LAW ENFORCEMENT Because of the location proposed for Myakka Estates, traffic from Phase I to the already developed center of North port will travel outside the city limits for part of the trip. Travelers from Phase I bound for the commercial district in North Port will pass through unincorporated Sarasota County, except those taking the longer route through Charlotte County. Travel from Phase I to any other municipality in Sarasota County would require passing through unincorporated Sarasota County. At the time of the hearing, the nearest substation of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office was approximately 30 miles from the Phase I property. At some point, as Myakka Estates becomes populated, depending upon traffic patterns, the Sheriff would create a new Sheriff's patrol zone at a cost of $180,000 (1980 dollars), if present policy on these matters holds. Not all of this amount could fairly be attributed to development of Phase I, although the costs of the proposed development (including Phase I) to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office would be significantly greater than the costs would be if the same population moved into the area contiguous to the existing center of North Port. North Port plans to furnish primary police protection within its city limits, staffing and equipping the 2,400 square feet municipal services center GDC has agreed to build in the vested portion of Myakka Estates. City prisoners are housed in the county jail, however, and the sheriff's office serves civil process in North Port. In residential land developments in the Charlotte Harbor area, where the roads have typically been laid out rectilinearly, a problem in the interval between road building and construction of housing has been the use of roads as airstrips by smugglers and as drag strips by racing enthusiasts. TRANSPORTATION Within Phase I, streets are to be laid out curvilinearly. Minor collectors are to feed major collectors which are to feed minor arterials which are to feed major arterials, with limited access to larger roads. Three and one-half miles of bicycle paths are planned. No mass transit system is contemplated for Phase I nor would Phase I be able to accommodate a right-of-way for a mass transit facility. There is no mass transit system in Port Charlotte or North Port. The viability of Phase I depends on continued mass ownership and operation of automobiles. U.S. Highway 41, a four-lane divided arterial, runs east and west north of the Myakka Estates property, then through the southwestern corner of the main part of North Port. When I-75 is finished, development may be skewed in its direction, drastically affecting traffic patterns; I-75 is slated to pass north of the property in two or three years. intersecting U.S. Highway 41, running south then southwest to the west of the Myakka Estates property, is South River Road (State Road 777), a two-lane arterial that ends in Englewood and currently handles about 2,000 trips daily. It will require four-laning when the number of daily trips reaches 10,000. South of the property in Charlotte County, another two-lane arterial, State Road 776 runs east-west, dead ending into State Road 771 which crosses the Myakka River at El Jobean and proceeds northeast to Murdock, where it intersects U.S. Highway 41, south of the main area of North Port. GDC has agreed to pave a two-lane road from the vested portion of the Myakka Estates property through Phase I to South River Road (State Road 777). by this route, a trip from the middle of Phase I to the commercial area in North Port would involve a trip of about ten miles. The distance from the middle of Phase I to the nearest post office, which is in Englewood, is approximately 6.5 miles; to Gulf Cove, approximately six miles; to Murdock, approximately 11.5 miles; to a shopping district in Venice, approximately 14.5 miles; and to the nearest hospital, in Venice, approximately 16.5 miles. Sarasota is about 30 miles north and Ft. Myers is some 40 miles distant in the other direction. It is to Sarasota and Ft. Myers that new inhabitants of Myakka Estates would be obliged to travel for concerts, plays, art galleries, and the like. Thee are commercial airports in Ft. Myers and Sarasota. GDC's expert assumed most of the traffic leaving Myakka Estates would travel south to points in Charlotte County because of anticipated development there. Sarasota County's expert assumed most of the traffic leaving Myakka Estates would travel to points in Sarasota County based on ratios of already developed commercial acreage and on an apparently inadvertent chronological mismatching of projected retail and total employment figures: for Venice in Sarasota County year 2000 projections were used while 1990 projections were used for competing areas to the east of Myakka Estates. Development of Phase I would have a substantial and costly impact on public roads in the vicinity. Both new construction and improvement of existing roads would be required, although mainly in rural areas. At least by the time Myakka Estates is fully populated, South River Road, State Road 776, and State Road 771, including the bridge across the Myakka River would have to be four- laned. While the direction of future traffic is disputed, the prospect of thousands of automobiles operating in the area as a result of a fully populated Phase I is very clear. It is impossible to say with certainty which road would have to be widened in which year or what share of the cost should be attributed to Phase I as distinguished from the rest of Myakka Estates and other development in the area, but the eventual impact of Phase I would require expenditures of millions of dollars for public roads. Sarasota County has identified road improvements it needs to make before the year 2000, without taking Myakka Estates into account, and puts their cost at $387,000,000, which is $110,000,000 more than is projected to be available. EMPLOYMENT ACCESSIBILITY Most of the people expected to live in the Phase I development are retired persons who would not be regularly travelling to and from a place of employment. Very few employment opportunities in retail sales and professional offices are forecast for Phase I. The vested portion of Myakka Estates is projected to have significantly more opportunities of this kind. In the beginning, most persons seeking employment would have to travel at least as far as Englewood. At build-out, a later phase of Myakka Estates may afford industrial employment opportunities. SWFRPC REPORT The Master ADA was filed with the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, rather than with SWFRPC, because Sarasota County was part of the Tampa Bay Region at the time. The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council recommended granting the Master ADA on conditions which were subsequently incorporated into the Master Development Order. The Phase I ADA was filed with the SWFRPC. In May of 1975, the SWFRPC issued its report recommending against approval of the Phase I ADA on various grounds, including the physical separation of the proposed development from presently developed areas and necessary services; the existing abundance of vacant platted lots and miles of deserved paved streets in the Charlotte Harbor area; creation of a need for an urban water supply, schools, police, and emergency medical facilities and services far from the areas where the affected local governments have planned to provide such facilities and services; and the adverse fiscal impact of the proposed development on local governments. The report was received in evidence to show what North Port reviewed before entering its development order but it was not offered as proof of the SWFRPC assertions in it.
Recommendation Upon consideration of the foregoing, it is RECOMMENDED: That the Florida Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission enter a development order granting GDC's Phase I ADA on such conditions as the Commission shall deem appropriate, including all the conditions contained in the Development Order entered by North Port and the following additional conditions: That GDC sell no lots in the special flood hazard zones as indicated on HUD's preliminary flood insurance rate maps, GDC Exhibit Nos. 69, 70, 71 and 72. That GDC sell no lots within EWD's jurisdiction until and unless EWD shall agree to such a sale in writing. That GDC unconditionally deed to the Sarasota County School District the elementary school site planned for Phase I together with the 50 lots nearest to the site. DONE AND ENTERED this 6th day of January, 1981, in Tallahassee, Florida. ROBERT T. BENTON II Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings Room 101, Collins Building Tallahassee, Florida 32301 (904) 488-9675 Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 6th day of June, 1981. COPIES FURNISHED: Parker D. Thomson, Esquire Kenneth W. Lipman, Esquire and Douglas M. Halsey, Esquire 1300 Southeast First National Bank Building Miami, Florida 33131 C. Laurence Keesey Department of Community Affairs Room 204, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32301 David E. Bruner, Esquire 581 Springline Drive Naples, Florida 33940 Richard E. Nelson, Esquire and Richard L. Smith, Esquire 2070 Ringling Boulevard Sarasota, Florida 33577 Robert A. Dickinson, Esquire 70 South Indiana Avenue Englewood, Florida 33533 John W. Field Englewood Community Organizations 227 Bahia Vista Drive Englewood, Florida 33533 Wayne Allen, Esquire General Development Corporation 1111 South Bayshore Drive Miami, Florida 33131 Mayor Margaret Gentle City of North Port North Port, Florida 33595 Allen J. Levin 209 Conway Boulevard Northeast Port Charlotte, Florida 33952 Office of Planning and Budget Executive Office of the Governor 311 Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32301 The Honorable Robert Graham Governor, State of Florida The Capitol Tallahassee, Florida 32301 The Honorable Jim Smith Attorney General The Capitol Tallahassee, Florida 32301 The Honorable Ralph Turlington Commissioner of Education The Capitol Tallahassee, Florida 32301 The Honorable Doyle Conner Commissioner of Agriculture The Capitol Tallahassee, Florida 32301 The Honorable William Gunter State Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner The Capitol Tallahassee, Florida 32301 The Honorable Gerald Lewis State of Florida Comptroller The Capitol Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Gerald Chambers 6970 Manasota Key Road Englewood, Florida 33533
